Roller for listed corn



(No Model.)

P. J. CLARK.

ROLLER FOR LISTED CORN.

No. 440,015. Patented Nov. 4, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK. J. CLARK, OF ASHLAND, NEBRASKA.

ROLLER FOR LISTED CORN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,015, datedNovember4, 1890. Application filed May 6,1890. Serial No. 350,822. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK. J. CLARK, of Ashland, in the county ofSaunders and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and Improved Rollerfor Listed Corn, of which the ioilowing is a full, clear, and exactdescripion.

-My invention relates to rollers for listed corn, and has for its objectto provide an attachment capable of application to any roller which willeffectually smooth the tops of the hills and produce well-definedfurrows between the hills, thus greatly facilitating the growth of thecorn and its cultivation.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully described, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the roller. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectionthrough a roller and the attachment thereto. Fig. 3 is also a transversesection through the roller and attachment, illustrating the means forincreasing the exterior diameter of the attachment. Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of one of the sections of the attachment, and Fig.5 is a sideelevation of a modification of said attachment.

The rollers 10 may be of any suitable or approved construction.Preferably the trunnions 11 of said rollers are journaled in endbearings 12 and a central bearing 13, the end bearings being attached toa front board 14 and the central bearings to a tongue 15, which is alsoattached by braces 16 or otherwise to the front board 14. The bearings12 and 13 usually consist of two metal straps having bearings formed attheir outer ends, and the roller-trunnions are so held in their bearingsthat when desired they may be removed therefrom and the said rollersthereby disconnected from the frame.

The attachmentA is adapted to he slid upon the rollers whenever listedcorn is to be rolled, and the-said attachment usually consists of aseries of blocks 17, having a convexed exterior surface a and a fiatlower surface a, and at or near the center of the blocks an aperture ais produced. A sufficient number of blocks are placed side by side tomore than surround the peripheral surface of the roller upon which theattachment is to be applied, and a rod 18 is passed through theapertures a of the blocks, thereby uniting them. What may be termed theupper connecting-block a is provided with two transverse apertures a andboth ends of the rod 18 are passed through the apertures of this block,as best shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and the contiguous face of the blockat each side of this central or connecting block is provided with arecess 19, whereby nuts 20 may be screwed upon the extremities of thetie-rod, which ends are threaded and project one beyond each side faceof the connecting-block. Thus by manipulating the nuts 20 the sectionsof the attachment may be drawn sufficiently close together to bind uponthe roller and require no other fastening device. The attachment ispreferably placed about centrally between the ends of the rollers, andwhile the central surface of the attachment is bulged or convexed theupper side surfaces are curved downward in the direction of the face ofthe roller, each block at its upper end surface being to that endconcaved, as illustrated at a in Fig. 4:. Instead of making the centralsurface of the outer face of the attachment convexed, as illustrated, itmay be slightly flattened, so as to produce a flat surface instead of aconcaved surface between the rows of corn. If it is desired to swell theattachment, so as to make a deeper furrow, split rings or collars 21 areplaced upon the exterior surface of the roller in such manner that whenthe attachment is applied thereto the inner side surfaces of saidattachment will be brought in contact with the said rings, asillustrated in Fig. 3. To remove the attachment, the rollers 10 areremoved from the frame in which they are journaled and the nuts 20 ofthe attachment are loosened, whereupon the latter maybe easily slid offat either end of the roller. Two rollers 10 are ordinarily employed inone frame, and as the machine is drawn forward the attachment travelsbetween the hills of corn forming the rows, and the peripheral surfacesof the rollers at each side of the attachment are brought in contactwith the top of the hills, thereby compressing or flattening them.

It is obvious that when listed corn is to be rolled, by placing theattachment upon an ordinary roller, which may be expeditiouslyaccomplished, the clods of earth are effectually broken both in thefurrows and upon the hills and the ground pressed closely upon the seed,thereby causing the ground to retain any moisture which it may containfor the proper nourishment of the seed.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5 the furrowing attachment A is madein two metal sections 22 and 23 only, which metal sections are hingedtogether at one end, one being provided at one end with a threaded rod24, adapted to enter a socket 25 in the corresponding end of the othersection, and when the said threaded rod is carried through the saidsocket a nut 26 is screwed upon the rod and the attachment of themodification to the roller thereby quickly effected. A springseatsupport 27 is attached to the frame at its center, carrying at itsupper end a seat 28 and preferably near its lower end a foot-rest 29.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. An attachment 'for rollers, consisting of asectional furrowing-ring having a convex exterior and provided withmeans for securing it to a roller, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

2. The combination, with a roller, of a furrowing-ring consisting of aseries of sections of greatest thickness at their center, atie-rodconnecting the said sections, and an adjusting device attached to thesaid tie-rod, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with a roller, of a furrowing-ring constructed ofaseries of blocks, having a convexed outer face, the connectingblockwhereof is provided with two transverse apertures and the remainder witha single aperture, a recess being formed in the opposed faces of theblocks at each side of the connecting-block, and a tie-rod passedthrough the apertures of the various blocks, the said rod being providedwith a locking device at its extremities, located within the saidrecesses, substantially as shown and described, and for the purposespecified.

FRANK. J. CLARK.

